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Two online news stories describe the current evacuation that is underway in Kashechewan First Nation.

from http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/2006/04/23/kashechewan060423.html

Flooding forces 750 from Kashechewan reserve - Sun, 23 Apr 2006 - CBC News

Spring flooding has forced hundreds of people to leave the northern Ontario reserve of Kashechewan. 

A helicopter takes Kashechewan residents from their water-logged Ontario reserve to nearby Fort Albany, before they go south by plane.

About 750 people, of a total population of 1,750, had been flown south from the James Bay community to Geraldton and Cochrane late Sunday afternoon, Chief Leo Friday told CBC News Online.

Kashechewan declared a state of emergency Saturday when water levels rose quickly and asked for immediate help from the province.

Starting with old people and infants on the first day, about 350 people were flown to Cochrane by Sunday morning and 400 were being flown to Geraldton on Sunday.

Julian Fantino, Ontario's commissioner of emergency management, said as many as 900 could be flown out.

He said there's both good and bad news in the fight against the flooded Albany River.

Kashechewan's airstrip has been too wet to use – the evacuees are being flown by helicopter to nearby Fort Albany, and then south by plane – but workers started at 6 a.m. Sunday to compact the surface.

"It may be solid enough to be used" on Monday, and a plane will attempt a landing in the morning," the chief said.

But the dike that protects the community is leaking and basements are already flooded.

"At this point it's starting to leak slowly," Friday said. "Our generators may be flooded tomorrow."

On Sunday afternoon, Kashechewan asked for pumps to be brought from Moosonee. "If we can have at least a couple of pumps, we can save the whole community from being damaged," he said.

There is also a drinking water problem. Ice has taken the water-treatment plant out of service and the remaining residents are drinking water that was delivered, but Friday is not sure how long it will last.

The community has asked the federal Department of Indian Affairs to bring in more water.

Drinking-water quality not problem, Fantino says

Fantino said the flooding is unrelated to problems that forced the evacuation of more than 1,100 Kashechewan residents in the fall of 2005.

"This problem has nothing to do with the quality of the community's water," he said.
 
The water level receded by about half a metre early Sunday, but is still 3½ to 4½ metres higher than normal, the province said in a release.

Residents 'cranky'

Friday said people are 'cranky' with the federal government, which is responsible for the infrastructure, and has rejected local proposals as too expensive, he said.

"They're really pissed off at the (federal) government for not making the infrastructure work."

For example, the community wanted above-ground steel storage tanks for the water plant, but got below-ground concrete ones, which get contaminated by ground water.

The flooding is Kashechewan's third water-related problem in a year.

About 200 people were flown off the reserve last spring when the Albany River broke through the dike and flooded some homes.

Then in the fall, water-quality issues sparked a mass evacuation.

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from http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/24042006/2/national-ontario-government-evacuating-hundreds-kashechewan-due-flooding.html

Ontario government evacuating hundreds from Kashechewan due to flooding - Mon Apr 24, 2006

KASHECHEWAN, Ont. (CP) - Spring flooding has forced the evacuation of this First Nations community, the third time in 12 months that emergency teams have descended on the remote James Bay reserve.

Kashechewan declared a state of emergency on Saturday and asked Emergency Management Ontario for immediate assistance. The Ministry of Natural Resources began by airlifting 232 residents to Cochrane, Ont., on Saturday night. Up to 900 additional residents were to be flown out Sunday to Cochrane, Ont., and Greenstone, Ont., said Julian Fantino, Ontario's commissioner of emergency management.

But Sunday's evacuations were slowed by the sheer volume of residents being shuttled by helicopters across the Albany River to Fort Albany, where 37-passenger Dash 8s and nine-passenger Twin Otter aircraft ferried residents onward.

Kashechewan's own airport was unusable due to damage to the road leading to the airport, and because of water and ice on the runway.

As residents lined up to be airlifted from Kashechewan, those in Fort Albany also prepared for the possibility that they, too, could be uprooted from their homes by the rising waters.

"Last time I've seen this was when I was a kid about 10 years ago," said Fort Albany resident Ross Ashmock. "I've heard that they're packing bags right now, preparing for the worst."

Fantino stressed the flooding is unrelated to problems with contaminated water, which forced the evacuation of more than 1,100 Kashechewan residents last fall.

Still, it's yet another setback for the community of about 1,900, said David Ramsay, Ontario's minister of aboriginal affairs.

"It was last spring they had an evacuation because of flooding (and there was the evacuation because of contaminated water), so this is basically the third evacuation now in 12 months," he said.

Ramsay said he planned to speak with his federal counterpart, Jim Prentice, and Kashechewan Chief Leo Friday about doing more for the community.

"There was an agreement by the federal government to do a partial move off the community, to rebuild some of the community on higher ground, and I think we need to . . . have a broader discussion (about doing more)," Ramsay said.

"I intend to bring this up with (Prentice) when I meet him (Monday)."

The water level had receded about half a metre earlier Sunday, but was still 3.5 to 4.5 metres higher than normal.

"Last night, the power system was down," Ramsay said. "In fact, they had to light fires at the airport so the helicopters could find where to land."

"There's a lot going on but we're getting the people out, getting them to safety."

Fantino said the military is also on standby with personnel and equipment ready to be deployed if necessary.

Monte Kwinter, minister of community safety and correctional services, said in a statement that Emergency Management Ontario had been preparing for possible problems in northern Ontario communities for more than a month.

"Flooding is an annual problem, and EMO has been working with communities to ensure their emergency flood plans were in order, and we have been talking with all parties involved to ensure a co-ordinated response to the spring flooding situation in northern Ontario," he said.

Medical students from the new Northern Ontario School of Medicine (http://www.normed.ca) are finally spending time learning from the people and the communities that they are suppose to be serving after their graduation. In pairs of 2, the 56 medical students will be spending the next four weeks in host Aboriginal communities as part of their final learning module for their first year of medical school. In August, Aboriginal leaders and health leaders will be meeting virtually in Fort William First Nation and in other First Nation sites to review the work of the school and the students as it relates to the experiences of the Aboriginal communities.

from http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/2006/04/23/northern-doctors060423.html

Medical students bound for immersion in aboriginal communities - Sunday, 23 Apr 2006 - CBC News

More than 50 students from the Northern Ontario School of Medicine have left on what their institution says is a unique one-month immersion program in remote First Nations communities.

The school, a joint initiative of Lakehead University in Thunder Bay and Laurentian University in Sudbury, was started in 2005 up to address the shortage of doctors in northern areas.

Pairs of first-year students departed on Sunday to visit communities that don't have full-time doctors and are served by physicians who usually fly in for a few days at a time.

"No other medical school in North America incorporates a required cultural immersion experience into a student's learning," the institution says on its website.

Dan Hunt, vice-dean of academic activities at the medical school, said doctors who plan to work in the North need to be immersed in the communities they will serve.

"Both the aboriginal community and people who study cultural competency tell us to truly understand a culture, one must actually live there for a little while," he said.

Students to join in fishing, hunting and feasting

Students will spend 10 to 12 hours a week in clinical settings such as urgent care wards, after-hours clinics and youth and school programs, the university website said.

They will also spend up to 12 hours, experiencing feasts, hunting, fishing and other community activities.

The students are also expected to keep up with their studies through teleconferencing sessions.

The school is trying to graduate more aboriginal doctors and is focused on training people to work in the North, which means there is special attention to aboriginal needs.

Traditional native healers visit the two campuses, one each at Lakehead and Laurentian, and students can attend a sweat lodge.

Could boost respect for alternate healing methods

James Lamouche, a policy analyst with the National Aboriginal Health Organization, said aboriginal and mainstream views of healing are significantly different, and neither a community visit nor a classroom can properly teach traditional medicine.

"Elders will tell us that the healing is in the land, or it's in the language or it's in the ceremonies they're passing on, and it's not necessarily in a chemical or a treatment," he said.

But the immersion program does have the potential to imbue students with respect for another way to heal, he said.

School tries to reflect cultural makeup of North

The medical school, which began with the 2005-06 academic year, decided to include the immersion month after a community consultation with aboriginal delegates.

A 2005 report from that meeting recommended that "the graduates of this medical school be culturally competent in issues related to aboriginal health" and emphasized "the need to have partnerships with the aboriginal communities."

It ran a pilot program in June 2005 with student volunteers from universities in Ontario and Manitoba.

It recently held interviews with 400 students from all over the north for 56 open spots in the next school year.

It tries to reflect the cultural makeup of northern communities and seeks students who are from the North.

Among the 400 applicants interviewed, 16 per cent are francophone and 5.6 per cent are aboriginal. Women outnumber men by 61 per cent to 39 per cent.

Recent press coverage for INAC Minister Prentice and the AFN (see below for both stories) is now indicating that the long await Residential School Settlement package is close to being completed and agreed upon by all parties.

AFN Press Release - April 23, 2006

Assembly of First Nations Approves Final Agreement on Residential Schools Resolution: Urges All Other Parties in Negotiations to Sign-off So Agreement Can Be Approved by Federal Cabinet

            OTTAWA, April 23 /CNW Telbec/ - Assembly of First Nations National Chief Phil Fontaine announced today that the AFN has approved the final agreement to resolve the legacy of Indian residential schools. The National Chief is urging all other parties in the negotiations - Churches, lawyers and other representatives of residential schools survivors - to endorse the agreement so that it can be put before the federal Cabinet for approval and implementation.

            "The final agreement is consistent with the approach the AFN has been advocating since day one," said National Chief Fontaine. "It is a holistic approach that allows for healing and reconciliation, and provides for a faster and more cost-effective approach to deal with individual claims of abuse. The approach is good for residential schools survivors and it is good for Canada. We urge all other parties in the negotiations to endorse this final agreement so it can be approved by the federal Cabinet and we can begin the long-overdue process of bringing about healing and reconciliation for all parties in this sad chapter of our shared history. This approval is a necessary step in this settlement process and we thank the survivors for their patience and understanding as we move to final resolution on residential schools."

            On November 23, 2005 an agreement in principle was struck between the AFN, federal negotiator the Honourable Frank Iacobucci, survivors, lawyers and churches involved in residential schools cases. The agreement was to set in place a comprehensive approach that would include: a lump sum payment for all survivors to compensate for loss of language and culture resulting from the schools; a more efficient and effective process to deal with serious claims of abuse; a national "truth-telling" commission to bring greater understanding and awareness of this issue; and expedited compensation payments for the elderly. Based on the agreement-in-principle, a final agreement has now been struck and awaits approval by all parties.

            The AFN is of the understanding that once Cabinet has approved the agreement, early payments to the elderly will be processed by Service Canada. On April 19, 2006, Prime Minister Stephen Harper stated at a news conference that: "Our government is prepared to move forward with (the agreement in principle) towards a final agreement as quickly as possible. Cabinet has given its approval for that as has our caucus. The difficulty is that one of the parties on the other side is at the current time blocking the signing of a final agreement.

            The AFN Regional Chief for Saskatchewan, Alphonse Bird, stated: "The party being referred to is clearly not the AFN. I would hope that none of the First Nations representatives - including the lawyers who represent survivors - would hold-up a fair and just resolution for people who have waited far too long for healing. The survivors are aging and with each day another one passes on who has not seen justice or reconciliation for their time in the schools. This agreement is far too important to be blocked for petty or insignificant reasons."
       
            The Assembly of First Nations is the national organization representing First Nations citizens in Canada.

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For further information:
Contacts: Don Kelly, AFN Communications Director, (613) 241-6789 ext. 320 or cell (613) 292-2787; Ian McLeod, AFN Bilingual Communications Officer, (613) 241-6789 ext. 336 or cell (613) 859-4335/

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From http://www.cbc.ca/sask/story/residential-schools060421.html

Deal close on residential schools, Indian Affairs minister says 
Apr 21 2006 - CBC News

A final deal on a compensation package for residential school survivors is only days away, Indian and Northern Affairs Minister Jim Prentice said Friday.

It was last year when Ottawa and First Nations organizations settled on a $1.9-billion compensation package for as many as 86,000 aboriginal people who attended church-run schools.

Prentice made his comments in Whitehorse on the last day of a week-long tour of the three northern territories.

Earlier this week, lobbyists and lawyers for the survivors said they had heard a final package may not be ready until next year.

There was great concern some people wouldn't live long enough to receive the compensation.

Prentice told reporters Friday the Conservative government isn't stalling on residential school payments. He says the final document is in place and court approval is being sought.

"I expect to have the final agreement in my hands within the next several days," he says. "I anticipate from my discussions with [special mediator Frank Iacobucci] that it will take another week or so to secure the agreement of all the parties."

The common experience payments would be for all residential schools students, which would release the government and churches from all further liability relating to the Indian residential school experience, except in cases of sexual abuse and serious incidents of physical abuse.

About 13,000 people who attended aboriginal residential schools in the 20th century have sued Ottawa and church organizations, alleging physical, sexual and emotional abuse and loss of culture and language. About 3,000 of the claims are from Saskatchewan.